It is advantageous in the watchmaking industry to fabricate components or parts of components by using a micro-machining process, for example photolithography then deep reactive ion etching, or electroplating, for example photolithography then galvanic growth. These processes make fabrication with improved precision possible, compared to conventional techniques.
However, it is difficult to form components from several parts. Thus, in the case of electroformed components, a laser weld between two parts and, for example, an arbour, is liable to deform the parts and arbour so that the very high level of precision resulting from the electroplating process is lost. Moreover, whatever the process, it is very difficult to obtain assembly precision between two components and, for example, a pivoting arbour.